Enduring Power of Attorney in Queensland: One Witness, Forms 2 and 3

Queensland needs only one eligible witness for an enduring power of attorney under section 44 of the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld), but that witness must fall within a narrow category set by section 31, not simply be any adult, and a single document can cover both financial and personal or health decisions.

This page covers the Queensland enduring power of attorney: the eligible-witness rule, forms, registration, attorney duties, revocation and interstate recognition. For what an enduring power of attorney is and how the states compare, see the national overview of enduring power of attorney in Australia. A separate Advance Health Directive is also available under the same Act for detailed medical-treatment instructions; see enduring guardianship and health decisions in Australia for how personal and health decision-making works across the states.

The instrument and what it covers

Queensland is the outlier among the states: a single Enduring Power of Attorney, made under the Powers of Attorney Act 1998 (Qld), can cover financial matters, personal and health matters, or both, in one document, depending on the approved form used. Most other states split financial decisions from personal and health decisions into separate instruments.

Execution: the one-witness rule

Section 44 requires the document to be signed and dated by an eligible witness, singular. But the eligible-witness category defined in section 31 is narrower than it might first appear. It is limited to:

• a justice of the peace
• a commissioner for declarations
• a notary public
• a lawyer (an Australian legal practitioner)

The witness cannot be the person who signed for the principal, an attorney appointed under the document, a relative of the principal or of an attorney, or, for a document covering personal matters, a paid carer or health provider of the principal. An attorney's employee is not excluded for that reason alone if acting in the ordinary course of their employment. The witness must complete a certificate under section 44(4)-(5) confirming the principal signed in their presence and appeared, at that time, to have the capacity needed to make the document.

Official forms

Two current approved forms exist: Form 2 (the short form) appoints an attorney for personal and health matters only, financial matters only, or the same attorney for both. Form 3 (the long form) appoints different attorneys for personal and health matters versus financial matters. Both are free from the Queensland Government, the Office of the Public Guardian, and the Public Trustee of Queensland. Form 4 is a separate document, the Advance Health Directive, and is not an enduring power of attorney form.

Registration

Registering the document with Titles Queensland, using Form 16 (Request to register power of attorney/revocation of power of attorney), is optional under the Land Title Act 1994, not required for the document to be valid generally. Once registered, section 60 allows it to continue authorising dealings with the principal's land until a revoking instrument is also registered. If a registered enduring power of attorney is later revoked, section 46(b) requires the principal to take reasonable steps to deregister it. Titles Queensland directs users to an online fee calculator for the current registration fee rather than publishing a fixed figure; check the calculator directly before relying on a specific dollar amount.

Attorney duties, conflicts and gifts

Section 88 limits gifts and donations: unless the document authorises otherwise, an attorney may only give away the principal's property if it matches a type of gift the principal made, or would reasonably have been expected to make, while they had capacity, and its value is not more than reasonable given the principal's circumstances, particularly their financial position. The attorney, or a charity connected to the attorney, is not barred from receiving such a gift. Section 89 separately allows a financial attorney to provide for a dependant's reasonable needs from the principal's estate, capped at what is reasonable unless the document says otherwise.

Revocation

The principal can revoke the document in writing while they have capacity to do so, under Part 5, Division 1 of the Act; if the document was registered under the Land Title Act, section 46 requires the principal to notify attorneys and to deregister it. Section 53 revokes the document's effect on a divorced spouse if the principal divorces after making it. Section 53A does the same if a civil partnership under the Civil Partnerships Act 2011 is terminated. No equivalent provision revoking the document on the principal's marriage was found; only the ending of a marriage or civil partnership is addressed.

Instruments made in other states

A targeted search of the Act found an interstate-recognition provision for Advance Health Directives, under section 40, but no equivalent general recognition provision for the financial or personal enduring power of attorney itself. This would make Queensland a second outlier alongside its single-witness rule, in contrast to states such as Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory, which recognise interstate enduring powers of attorney automatically. This finding comes from a keyword search of the Act text rather than a full section-by-section read, so treat it as a documented gap rather than a settled conclusion, and confirm directly with Queensland's Office of the Public Guardian before relying on it.

Disputes

The Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) may make orders about enduring documents, including declarations about a principal's capacity, whether an appointment is valid, removing an attorney, and revoking or changing the terms of an enduring power of attorney.

For the probate process that follows a death in Queensland, see applying for probate in Queensland.